The Federal Government of Nigeria has not listed condition for the lifting of the indefinite suspension it placed on Twitter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
The statement issued by the Ministry on Monday titled ‘Clarification Of Comments By The Honourable Minister Of Foreign Affairs At His Meeting With Envoys’ and signed by the ministry’s spokesperson, Ferdinand Nwonye, said that the Minister was “quoted out of contest.”
The statement added that the minister “did not give any conditions regarding lifting the Twitter suspension.”
The minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, met with the envoys of the United States, United Kingdom, the European Union, the Republic of Ireland and Canada on Monday afternoon in Abuja over their recent comments which described the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria as a violation of the freedom of expression.
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According to the statement, Nwonye said that after the meeting with the envoy, the minister was quoted to have said that “Twitter’s operations in Nigeria will be restored only if the platform can be used responsibly.”
“This statement by the Honourable Minister has been quoted out of context. Contrary to the publications, the Honourable Minister was speaking generally about the responsibilities that go with freedom of speech, stating that platforms that have the power to instantly disseminate information among billions of people have the added responsibility to exercise that power responsibly.
Nwonye said that “The Ministry wishes to state categorically that the Honourable Minister did not give any conditions regarding lifting the Twitter suspension.”
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
